Heel attaching method and means



March 22, 1966 J. G. WRIGHT 3,241,225

HEEL ATTACHING METHOD AND MEANS Filed Dec. 16, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

JOHN G. WRIGHT ayw fiazuza 5 334,642 f/ hrro NKJ March 22, 1966 WRIGHT 3,241,225

HEEL ATTAGHING METHOD AND MEANS Filed Dec. 16, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet z I INVENTOR.

JOHN G. WP/GH 7- had/Mm United States Patent 3,241,225 HEEL ATTACHING METHOD AND MEANS John G. Wright, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to The Auto-Soler Company, a corporation of Georgia Filed Dec. 16, 1963, Ser. No. 330,725 Claims. (Cl. 29-4321) This invention relates generally to fastener forming and inserting machines of the type arranged for forming fasteners from a continuous length of wire and inserting the formed fasteners in work to be secured, and more particularly to an improved method and means for selectively driving the formed fasteners to a point substantially beneath the normal surface of the work being secured.

The improved method and means of the present invention have application to particular advantage in securing rubber heel blanks on mens shoes. The rubber heel blanks that are used on mens shoes, especially those used for replacement by shoe repairmen, are now commonly formed with an inner core of greater physical strength than the remaining body of the rubber heel so that securing fasteners employed in attaching the heel may be driven through this firmer core material to hold the heel in place securely.

The presence of such core material substantially facilitates the proper securing of mens rubber heels by the headless sort of fasteners that are formed from a continuous length of wire, not only because the core provides firmer material through which to drive these fasteners, but also because it provides an interior portion of the heel at which the fasteners may be clinched below the exposed heel surface so that the fasteners will hold the heel in place as if they did have heads. However, the operation of driving and clinching a headless fastener below the exposed surface of the heel ordinarily leaves a substantial mark of the driving that has been done, and additionally has a tendency to weaken or impair the heel structure.

The present invention makes it possible to drive headless fasteners formed from a continuous wire length and clinch them at the core portion of the heel while leaving virtually no evidence of the fastener insertion after the operation has been completed. This result is accomplished according to the present invention by providing initially for locally pressing the rubber heel structure to substantially the thickness of the core material, then driving and clinching the fastener in the core materially at the locally pressed heel portion and finally allowing the pressed heel portion to spring back to its original condition so that no readily apparent evidence remains that the insertion has been made. The present invention provides means for carrying out this operation that may be employed selectively while alternatively allowing the fastener forming and inserting machine to be used normally for other operations.

These and other features of the present invention are described in further detail below in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing generally the arrangement of a fastener forming and inserting machine incorporating heel attaching means in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the knife assembly employed in the FIG. 1 machine with the associated conversion plate shown in relation thereto;

FIG. 3 is a right side elevation corresponding generally to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the associated conversion plate;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustrationof the manner in which a fastener is inserted according to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration indicating the condition of the work following the fastener insertion.

3,241,225 Patented Mar. 22, 1966 Referring now in detail to the drawings, FIG. 1 indicates generally the arrangement of a fastener forming and inserting machine of the type disclosed, for example, in Us. Patents No. 3,107,635 and No. 2,698,681, in which a frame structure 10 is arranged to dispose an operating head 12 for forming and inserting fasteners downwardly into work carried by a work supporting structure 14. Guide means 16 is provided to position the work in relation to the operating head 12 to gauge the location at which the fasteners are inserted. Also shown in FIG. 1 is a handle 18 adapted to move in slot 20 to adjust the pressure at which the work will be pressed against the knife assembly 22 of the operating head 12 as explained in more detail further below.

A conversion plate, generally indicated by numeral 24, is shown mounted on the frame structure 10 by pivot arm 26 for use in association with the knife assembly 22 in accordance with the present invention.

The knife assembly 22, which is shown in more detail in FIG. 2 in relation to the conversion plate 24, is of the same general type disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,996,719; being generally composed of a stationery blade member 28 and a matched movable blade member 30 secured on a pivot pin 32 for relative pivoting between fastener forming and fastener inserting positions. Stationary blade member 28 and movable blade member 30 are respectively shaped to form a wire receiving and positioning passageway 34 when the movable blade member 30 is in fastener forming position. The opposing edges of the passageway 34 form shearing edges to cut the wire inserted into passage 34 and thereby form a fastener when the movable blade member 30 is pivoted about pin 32 to assume the inserting position shown in FIG. 2. The two blade members are further shaped to complete a driving passageway 36 therethrough at fastener inserting position.

The driving passageway 36 of the knife assembly 22, at its lower portion, extends through a nose portion 38 formed on the stationary blade member 28 of the knife assembly 22. The nose portion 38 is frustro-coni-cal in shape and its smaller end 40 includes the terminal opening of the driving passageway 36. The small end 40 of the nose portion 38 is made of sufiiciently small area so that when the conversion plate 24 is withdrawn from its shrouding position (as seen in FIG. 1) and a resilient Work piece, such as a rubber heel H for a mans shoes, is pressed against the nose portion 38 with suificient pressure, the nose portion 38 will locally press the resilient work piece H substantially below its normal level to permit a fastener F to be driven from the passage 36 into the work piece H at the locally pressed point. If the work piece is a rubber heel H for mens shoes of the type having a core C as described above, the nose portion 38 may be caused to compress the heel H to substantially the thickness of this core C and permit the fastener F to be inserted and clinched directly thereat as indicated to FIG. 5. After the fastener F has been inserted, the localized pressing of the work piece H is relieved and work thereupon springs back to its normal shape as illustrated in FIG. 6. The fastener F is left embedded in the work H below the surface area thereof and, by this method of insertion, the fastener is obscured below the exposed Work surface with virtually no evidence apparent of any insertion having been made.

The nose conversion plate 24 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 at a selective shr-ouding position with respect to the knife assembly nose portion 38 that alternatively per mits normal fastening inserting operation as previously mentioned. This conversion plate 24 is carried on pivot arm 26 with a retaining collar 42 acting oppositely with respect to a bearing bracket 44 on frame structure 10 to contain a torsion spring 46 so as to bias the pivot arm 26 axially upward as seen in FIG. 2 and, simultaneously, to impose a bias tending to pivot the arm 26 away from its shrouding position at the knife assembly 22 and toward the retracted position shown in FIG. 1. The conversion plate 24 incorporates an aperture 47 shaped to clear the knife assembly nose portion 33 in assuming a shrouding disposition thereat, and is additionally formed with a lateral arm portion 48 having an upwardly directed camming surface 50 and an upwardly opening retaining slot 52 adapted, respectively, for directing the conversion plate 24 to and engaging it at its shrouding position, where the retaining slot 52 holds it in place through engagement with the knife assembly pivot pin 32.

That is, upon pivoting from its retracted position against the torsion bias of spring 46, as conversion plate 24 approaches the knife assembly 22, the lateral arm portion 48 thereof comes into contact with the knife assembly pivot pin 32, and continued movement of the conversion plate 24 causes the camming surface 50 thereof to react with the knife assembly pivot pin 32 so that the conversion plate 24 is forced downwardly against the compression bias of spring 26 to clear the knife assembly nose portion 38 in swinging toward its shrouding position, where the retaining slot 52 then becomes aligned with the knife assembly pivot pin 32 to permit the engaged FIG. 2 relation to be assumed. Conversely, when the conversion plate is in shrouding position and it is desired to release it to retracted position, this may be done simply by pressing downwardly at the lateral arm portion 48 sufficiently to release retaining slot 52 from the knife assembly pivot pin 32, whereupon the torsion bias of spring 46 will immediately swing the conversion plate 24 to the position shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 additionally shows the shape of the clearance aperture 47 in the conversion plate 24 and the for-m of the lateral arm portion 48. The clearance aperture 47 has an elongated shape to allow the knife assembly nose portion 38 sufficient freedom of movement when the movable knife member pivots during operation. The curve of the lateral arm portion 43 is formed to maintain the camming surface 50 in riding contact at the pivot pin 32 as the conversion plate 24 is pivoted to the shrouding position. The small notches 54 are placed on each side of the protector plate in line with the elongated aperture 47 to provide guide lines to aid the operator in inserting the fasteners F.

It should also be noted that the heel attaching method and means of the present invention is employed to particular advantage in relation to means to adjust the work clamping pressure as disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,793,364, and for which the previously mentioned adjusting handle is shown at 18 in FIG. 1 for adjustment in the table slot 20 for setting the work clamping pressure in relation to selective and alternative operation of the knife assembly 22 with or without the conversion plate 24 in place. Thus, when the conversion plate 24 is retra'cted to expose the knife assembly nose portion 38 for its selective type of operation a higher level of work clamping pressure should be applied to provide an adequate localized pressing action to obtain the effect indicated in FIG. 5. On the other hand, when ordinary work is being handled with the conversion plate 38 in place, a lighter work clamping pressure should be employed to avoid marring the work. By simply moving the adjusting handle 18 in relation to the selective use that is made of the knife assembly nose portion 38, the work clamping pressure is quickly and easily maintained at a suitable and effective related level.

The present invention has been described above for purposes of illustration only, and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of securing a resilient work piece in place which comprises: locally pressing a surface area of said work piece substantially below its normal level, inserting a securing fastener through said Work piece at said locally pressed surface area and below said normal level, clinching said inserted fastener at said locally pressed surface area, and then allowing said surface area to spring back to its normal level leaving the inserted and clinched fastener embedded in said work piece and obscured below the surface thereof.

2. The method of securing a resilient heel blank to a heel block which comprises: locally pressing the exposed surface area of said resilient heel blank substantially below its normal level and toward said heel block, inserting a securing fastener into said heel block through said heel blank at said locally pressed surface area and below said normal level, clinching said inserted fastener at said locally pressed surface area, and then allowing the surface area of said resilient heel blank to spring back to its normal level leaving the inserted and clinched securing fastener embedded in said heel blank and obscured below the surface thereof.

3. The method of securing a resilient heel blank to a heel block which comprises: forming successive fasteners from a continuous length of wire and cyclically inserting each such fastener through said heel blank and into said heel block, while locally pressing the exposed surface of said heel blank substantially below its normal level at the location of each fastener insertion; clinching said inserted fastener at said locally pressed surface area; and then releasing the local pressure at said heel blank surface.

4. In a fastener forming and inserting machine of the type incorporating a knife assembly for forming successive fasteners from a continuous length of wire and operating cyclically to insert each such fastener in work to be secured, the improvement comprising a nose portion formed on said knife assembly for localized contact with the work to be secured and arranged to have each fastener inserted into said work therethrough, and a manually manipulable plate member apertured for selective shrouding disposition about said knife assembly nose portion to present an enlarged contact area with the work to be secured.

5. A fastener forming and inserting machine as defined in claim 4 and further characterized by said plate member being mounted for shifting between a shrouding disposition at said nose portion and a retracted position clear of said knife assembly and being formed to engage said knife assembly when the plate member is located in said shrouding disposition so as to be held thereat, said plate member being biased both to remain in said shrouding disposition when engaged with said knife assembly and to shift toward said retracted position when disengaged from said knife assembly, and said plate member having a cam portion acting at said knife assembly to direct said plate member into engagement therewith upon shifting of said plate member from said retracted position to said shrouding disposition.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 21,141 7/1939 Ajouelo et a1. 1-355 315,675 4/1885 Stone 1137 X 1,208,853 12/1916 Standish 1137 1,615,270 1/1927 Hadaway 1-l37 X 1,617,049 2/1927 Hadaway 1137 X 2,085,894 7/1937 Britton 1-137 X 2,408,844 10/1946 Gill 1-137 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF SECURING A RESILIENT WORK PIECE IN PLACE WHICH COMPRISES: LOCALLY PRESSING A SURFACE AREA OF SAID WORK PIECE SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW ITS NORMAL LEVEL, INSERTING A SECURING FASTENER THROUGH SAID WORK PIECE AT SAID LOCALLY PRESSED SURFACE AREA AND BELOW SAID NORMAL LEVEL, CLINCHING SAID INSERTED FASTENER AT SAID LOCALLY 